Govt takes control over Parks and Gardens land at Cantonment – Minister

 The Minister of Local Government, Decentral­isation and Rural Devel­opment, Martin Adjei-Mensah Korsah, says the ministry has taken full control of the Depart­ment of Parks and Gardens land at Cantonment in Accra.

This assurance comes two weeks after the Minister told Par­liament in an answer to a question that the government was taking steps to reclaim the land from an intruder.

The 2.6 acre land had been a subject of litigation between the Department and a private real estate developer; a process which had since been struck out of by a Court in favour of the Depart­ment.

On a working visit to the De­partment on Monday, Mr Kor­sah who is also the Member of Parliament (MP), Techiman South, said the state would leave no stone unturned to ensure the land in question and all other pieces of land belonging to the Department were kept in trust of the people.

“We woke up one morning and a private individual, I’m told a private real estate developer, who claims to have bought this land and intruded by putting some contain­ers in here.

“We have brought them out and we are now in full occupation of our land. This land belongs to the state. We are not aware of any decision to sell it or release it,” he said.

The working visit also took the minister to the Births and Deaths Registry where he inspected two work stations of the Registry.

At the Department of Parks and Gardens, the Ghanaian Times noted that two 20-feet containers which were earlier in the walled -yard had been brought out.

Having brought the containers out from the yard, the Minister said the staff and management of the Department had the responsibility to protect the land from future encroachment for and on behalf of the Ghanaian people.

“The staff of the Department are fully on the ground to ensure that this land that belongs to the State is fully protected. Nobody will be allowed to intrude or encroach our land, and we are taking every step to protect it for the state as it was acquired for,” he stressed.

He said checks at the Lands Commission proved that the land remained a bonafide of the De­partment, adding that the State was ready to meet the private developer in Court if he “re-en­ters the case.”

At the Births and Deaths Registry, the Minister said steps were underway to elevate the Registry into an Authority to have far-reaching powers in order to enhance their operations.

“The Ministry is engaging the Attorney-General to prepare a Bill for the necessary Cabinet and Parliamentary Approval for them to attain that status,” he said.

An elaborate investment, he said, was to be made into the IT infrastructure of the Registry to fully digitise the operations of the Registry to protect birth and death records dating back to 1929.

BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI

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